11. Want to get away from the crowds in the park? Head north to Gates of the Arctic National Park and Preserve in Alaska. It’s the least-visited national park and the northernmost national park. It’s within the Arctic Circle and it has no roads, trails, campgrounds or facilities.

12. California boasts the most national parks of any state with nine parks: Joshua Tree, Channel Islands, Sequoia, Pinnacles, Kings Canyon, Yosemite, Lassen Volcanic, Redwood and Death Valley.[source]

21. The National Parks Conservation Association is researching ways to implement a zero landfill initiative. Visitors at the parks threw away 100 million pounds of trash in 2015.

22. The rocks known as gneisses and schists in Voyageurs National Park in Minnesota were thought to form 2.85 billion years ago. That’s older than the rocks at the bottom of the Grand Canyon. (Source)

23. In Lassen National Park visitors can see (hopefully not experience) “Big Boiler,” one of the hottest fumaroles in the world. A fumarole is an opening that releases sulfurous gases. This fumarole has recorded temperatures up to 322 degrees Fahrenheit.

24. Two national monuments honor women’s history: The Harriet Tubman National Monument in Cambridge, Massachusetts and The Belmont-Paul Women’s Equality National Monument in Washington, D.C. (Source)

25. The largest living single-stem tree in the world, called “General Sherman,” stands 275 feet tall in Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Park in California.

Published: 8/25/2016

Christina Maness

While traveling the world as a digital nomad, Christina found it difficult to find the fine travel experiences that satisfied her conscience. She started The Wayward Post with Ziggy to help travelers find those travel experiences that are driving positive change and to give the Wayward hat tip to travel-related brands doing the right thing. All while amplifying the work of amazing writers and photographers.

When she's not writing for The Wayward Post, you'll find her working with do-good brands run by amazing people with the marketing agency, ZATWIC. Or maybe just drinking a craft cocktail. Follow her on Twitter.